Australia's most expensive wine

Penfolds have just this week officially launched their most expensive wine ever, a South Australian Shiraz Cabernet blend called the Bin 620 (named after the famous Bin 620 of 1966).

What is most interesting though is that the launch took place in Shanghai, not Australia, a nod to where Penfolds believe the market for this particular wine will be (which is clearly not Australia).

Angus tasted the wine recently and believes that it's quite an intriguing wine for Penfolds, built in a rather less obvious style than the quite overt style that Penfolds is famous for.

Read Angus' review of the new Penfolds Bin 620 Cabernet Shiraz

New Zealand should "concentrate on red wine"

According to renowned Kiwi winemaker Steven Smith MW (of Craggy Range) talking to Drinks Business magazine,  New Zealand winemakers should concentrate on improving the quality of their red wines, believing that beyond his own winery and a handful of others, most aren't taking red wine seriously.

Have a read of the full article here

What do you think? Is the offering of New Zealand reds really that lacklustre?

Here at Cracka we genuinely can't agree with Mr Smith, not with great wineries like Stonecroft, Trinity Hill, Bilancia and Unison in Hawkes Bay alone focusing largely on red wines, let alone all those great Central Otago, Waipara, Martinborough and Marlborough producers who make great Pinot Noirs, not forgetting the largely red wine focused wineries of Waiheke Island....

NZ wines: Beyond Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir

Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc: It's unarguably the wine that has propelled forward the reputation of New Zealand wine on a global scale, taking the exports of Kiwi vino from 19 to 120 million litres in just the past 10 years alone (with plantings of Sauvignon Blanc tripling over that period).

But beyond Sauv Blanc (and to a slightly lesser extent Pinot Noir), there is unquestionably much more to NZ wine, even though it might not always seem that way.

So what are the other wines that Kiwi winemakers finding success with (and where)?

To answer that, the best place to start is Marlborough itself. Marlborough has always been about Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir (and Chardonnay), yet more recently another variety has found favour in the region.

I'm talking about Pinot Gris, perhaps not all that 'alternate' a variety but one that is proving to be a promising one for the region, as noted by English wine writer Anthony Rose in The Independent "The Alsace variety that is often innocuous in France can produce wines in New Zealand's climate of spicy fruitiness."

In Marlborough, the planting of Pinot Gris has skyrocketed on the back of this early success, with the amount of Pinot Gris up 22% in 2008/2009 alone, with it now considered to be the variety to sit alongside Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc in the Marlborough heirachy. Beyond just Marlborough, Pinot Gris has found favour elsewhere in New Zealand too, with plantings increasing in Otago and Nelson too.

The main appeal of Pinot Gris is simply about texture and intensity, with the variety offering Chardonnay like richness, yet with the acidity and juicy musky aromas of more floral and aromatic whites such as Riesling.

Some of the top producers of Pinot Gris in New Zealand include Dry River in Martinborough (whom have produced a Pinot Gris for longer than most, although it is almost impossible to source), Villa Maria (their single vineyard Marlborough range in particular), Neudorf (from Nelson), Prophet's Rock (in Otago) and Blackenbrook (from Nelson).

Buy New Zealand Pinot Gris

Beyond Pinot Gris another variety that is striding ahead in the popularity stage is Syrah (or Shiraz in Australian terminology. We're the only ones who call it that you know).

Much like Shiraz in Australia, Syrah will grow just about anywhere, particularly given that - as a mid season ripener - it's viable even in quite cool climates, which has meant that it has been planted all over New Zealand. The hotspots for fine Syrah however are unquestionably centred around two locations: Hawkes Bay and Waiheke Island.

Of these it is Hawkes Bay that is streets ahead in the reputation and popularity stakes, driven by the prominent success of Gimblett Gravels (a small sub region of Hawkes Bay) Syrah in particular, with Waiheke Island only really constrained by how little available land there is for grapegrowing.

What makes New Zealand Syrah unique/special/worthy though is it's medium bodied, peppery savoury style, with the inherently cool climate making for wines that will never be as rich as equivalent Australian styles, but instead are much more of an elegant, quasi-French style (as cliched as the expression is).

Picking the best producers of Syrah in New Zealand is a tricky one, purely due to how many great names there are. From the Gimblett Gravels alone Craggy Range, Trinity Hill, Stonecroft and Villa Maria all produce top wines, and in the larger Hawkes Bay area Bilancia and Te Mata also kick butt.

On Waiheke Island there is a similarly high level of smart producers crafting great Syrah, including Passage Rock, Obsidian, Man of War and Mudbrick, with Kusuda and Dry River from Martinborough also rounding things out.

Buy New Zealand Syrah

Finally the last variety that is gaining traction in New Zealand, though somewhat lagging considering it's international profile, is Riesling, with plantings increasing 15% year-on-year. The driver of this popularity resurgence is largely that the niche has been found, with riper or off-dry, Germanic/Alsace inspired styles proving successful.

The hit regions for this richer/off dry style are towards the southern end of New Zealand, with Marlborough, Waipara, Canterbury, Otago and Martinborough all producing top wines.

As for top producers there are a few worth highlighting, including Framingham, Spy Valley (under their 'Envoy' label), Forrest Estate (sweet wines)in Marlborough, Felton Road (sweeter styles) and Mount Difficulty in Central Otago and Pegasus Bay (particularly for the sweet wines) in Canterbury.

Buy New Zealand Riesling

Andrew Graham
Photo Credits

A quick snapshot of five alternative varieties in Australia

We're talking all things alternative wine at Cracka this week, highlighting a few goodies that sit outside of the normal Shiraz, Chardonnay, Semillon, Pinot Noir etc. varietal square.

Now whilst we literally could write a thesis (or three) on this subject, in this post we thought we'd focus on five of the notable alternative variety successes in Australia at present:

Fiano: Originally from Campania in Southern Italy, Fiano is now picking up popularity in McLaren Vale (in particular) with Oliver's Taranga, Coriole and Fox Gordon making the best examples, along with Rutherglen Estate and Chalmers Vineyard also working with it in Victoria.

What makes Fiano successful is it's lovely waxy texture and high natural acidity, both of which makes for a dry and crisp, yet still quite generous wine. Couple that with the Fiano vines ability to cope with hot summers and drought conditions and you've got a variety tailor made for Australian conditions.

What is Fiano most like? Think Semillon but with a more lemony waxy textural richness. Pears flavours and chalky acidity.

Buy Fiano here

Barbera: Another indigenous Italian variety (there are at least 850 documented wine grape varieties so it's probably of little surprise that we see so many alternates coming from Italy), Barbera's home is in Piedmont, north west Italy, which is a hilly region close to the border between Italy and France.

In it's home region, Barbera was once known as the 'people's grape' as it was so widely drunk, though more recently it has evolved into something more serious and slightly less egalitarian. What makes this variety a winner is that, like Fiano, it maintains it's natural acidity even when ripe and has notably low tannins, making for a red wine that is juicy and refreshingly crisp (and hence immensely quaffable).

In Australia, Barbera is now planted all over the countryside, again showing great promise in warm regions thanks to it's relatively easygoing personality. Margan and David Hook in the Hunter Valley have also produced excellent examples, with some of Australia's oldest Barbera vines at Montrose in Mudgee (though the quality is only just getting back on track after a wobbly period). It has also found some success in the Barossa via Massena with Chalk Hill in McLaren Vale also getting some rave reviews.

What is Barbera most like? Think the juiciness of Merlot but with more cherry flavours and more acidity. Light to medium bodied and very juicy.

Buy Barbera here

Gamay: Better known as the grape of Beaujolais, Gamay has undergone something of a resurgence recently - as Beaujolais has - showing exactly how sexy this light, svelte and juice variety can be, although the scars of the insipid Beaujolais Nouveau phenomenon still lie just below the surface.

Often described as poor man's Pinot Noir, Gamay has shown itself to work well in the cooler regions of Australia in particular. Some of the top Gamay producers in Australia are Eldridge Estate on the Mornington Peninsula and Sorrenberg in Beechworth.

What is Gamay most like? It's very close to Pinot Noir actually, if just a fraction lighter and more pretty. Lots of raspberry, strawberry fruit and a light bodied palate. Elegance and juiciness.

Buy Gamay here

Tempranillo: It's almost odd to call this an alternative variety now such is it's popularity. Tempranillo is currently the fastest planted wine grape in Australia with vines planted from Margaret River to the Barossa to Rutherglen to Canberra to QLD. Why the success you ask? It's a very generous grape, known to produce lovely earthen red wines with rich flavours and firm tannins.

Tempranillo is widely regarded as the national grape of Spain, with plantings all over the nation. It's also widely planted in Portugal too where it is a key ingredient in Ports and full bodied Portugese red blends.

Some of the current successful producers of Tempranillo include Mount Majura in Canberra, Stella Bella and Juniper Estate in Margaret River, Samuel's Gorge in McLaren Vale and Pondalowie in Bendigo.

What is Tempranillo most like? Take the rich earthiness of Shiraz and add some more earthiness. Typically savoury and rich it is normal medium to full bodied and tastes of chocolate and dark berries.

Buy Tempranillo here

Viognier: Much like Tempranillo, Viognier is almost mainstream these days, propelled into the limelight particularly thanks to the fact that it is regularly blended with Shiraz to make Shiraz softier and sexier. Interestingly, Viognier almost died out in the early 1960s (down to just 14ha total plantings) and it was only thanks to some astute growers in the South of France (and even Australia) who picked it up again in the late 80's -early 90's that saved the variety.

The home of Viognier is the Northern Rhone, where it has been historically blended with Shiraz or grown as a stand alone wine in a few very small appellations (such as Condrieu). In Australia it has found a happy home in the Hunter Valley, Eden Valley, Yarra Valley and Canberra in particular.

Some of the top makers of Viognier include Yalumba in the Eden Valley, Clonakilla in Canberra, Castagna in Beechworth and Yarra Yering in the Yarra Valley.

What is Viognier like? Apricotty! Viognier produces rich and full flavoured wines that can be almost Chardonnay like in weight with prominent peach and apricot fruit.

Buy Viognier here

Drinking a bottle of really nice Australian Shiraz the other night got me thinking about the history and stylistic diversity of wines from Down Under.

A good drop is a good drop, regardless of what's written on the bottle. Many wine lovers periodically get together to open bottles and discuss them over a meal, and sometimes play games. I'm a member of the Second Tuesday Club, a loose gang of Sydney wine lovers, mostly professionals, who meet monthly and tastes wines they wouldn't normally be able to afford.

IT IS a wine worthy of Dionysus. But the Greek god of wine would probably have no better luck getting his hands on a bottle of the latest Penfolds Grange than the rest of us.

It's the perfect excuse to have that extra glass of red wine and spoonful of chocolate dessert - research has shown that ingredients in both might make you brainier.

MOST petty thieves would be hard-pressed to tell a Barossa red from a Beaujolais. But one developed a taste for Australia's most collectable wine, Penfolds Grange, in the lead-up to last week's release of the latest vintage, the 2006 season.

AUSTRALIA'S most famous wine has jumped $50 in a year and will hit the shelves next Thursday at a record $599 a bottle.

FLAGSHIP Foster's winery Penfolds has cited growing demand from China for the rising price of its top-shelf Bin range. The latest Bin release, of nine wines, goes on sale ranging from the $30 Bin 51 Eden Valley Riesling 2011 to the $65 Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz 2008.

For lovers of fine wine, March 1 is coming to mean only one thing every year: the annual release of Penfolds highly sought after Bin selection.

Everyone raves about the combination of seafood and white wine, but what about red wine? The team at Buy Wine Online have donned our floppy fishing hat and headed off in search of the perfect red wine to buy when seafood is on the menu!

Wine-drinkers are more likely to pick pinot noir from the shelf than sauvignon blanc, a survey shows. A Herald-DigiPoll survey showed that slightly more New Zealanders (31.3 per cent) chose red wines over white (30.1 per cent).

Hawkes Bay may be a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to the wines that it makes, but it's also master of many, including some of country's most exciting up-and-coming varieties. This diversity was once considered a weakness, but in a market flooded with Marlborough sauvignon blanc, its winemakers are hopeful that in the coming years this may well turn out to be its strength.

In the world of wine, on the same day every year a small French province releases its annual light red - not just on home ground but all over the world.

A South Australian winery has won the Best Red Wine in the World award at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London. It's one of the world's most prestigious wine competitions.

The industry's newest prize honours a vintage that keeps getting better with age. It seems almost perverse to be writing about the most exciting new trophy in Australian wine shows in the week the long-established top award, the Jimmy Watson Trophy, is announced.

George Fistonich is a survivor. The founder and owner of New Zealand's self-proclaimed most successful winery, Villa Maria Estate, is also living proof of the wisdom of sticking to a quality ethic. The risks he has taken, such as eliminating corks from his company's wines in 2001, have paid off.

Diversification is an important safeguard, says top sommelier. Zhang Hui, a State-level wine sommelier and also the deputy director of the Production and Operation Department of the COFCO Wines & Spirits Company, shares her views on collecting and investing in red wine during an interview with China Daily reporter Yang Ning.

LOVERS of Penfolds Grange had better pray the company's new owners are wine buffs too. Grange is Australia's most lauded wine and the glittering prize among Foster's wine brands.

AT $700 a bottle this Barossa Valley shiraz is the most expensive new wine in Australia. Working out at $87.50 a glass, Torbreck's 2005 The Laird is even more expensive than the current release Penfolds Grange, which sells for $600 a bottle. Adding to its luxury status, it's not available at bottleshops, only at Torbreck's Nuriootpa cellar door.

While Pinot Noir is traditionally viewed as a more expensive varietal, the medal tally for New Zealand Pinot Noir at this year's New World Wine Awards shows that affordable home grown Pinot is on the rise.

Shiraz has been Australia's boon and bane. It has taken blame for the tanking of the market for high-end Australian wine - cursed as the grape that strove to be both fancy and populist at the same time.

Penfolds, whose flagship wine is ultra–premium Grange, is the most popular brand among Australian fine wine collectors, one of the country's largest wine storage companies claims.

The understated Cape Mentelle Cellar Door is nestled in an outcrop of woodland at the cooler, Southern end of Margaret River on the picturesque Wallcliffe Road. Directly behind sits the barrel hall and it is here that for a weekend in November last year, guests from around the country gathered to attend what is most certainly one of the great events on the Australian wine calendar - the Cape Mentelle International Cabernet tasting.

On the fertile and steep hills of Piedmont in North-Western Italy, ancient towns sit upon dramatic hills, dotted among a patchwork of vines. In these quiet and sleepy villages, seemingly far removed from the nearby metropolis of Milan, life has remained relatively unchanged for centuries with grand food and wine an important part of the everyday existence. With local treats, such as the cherished black truffles, in addition to wines made from varietals such as moscato, barbera, arneis and dolcetto, Piedmont, and the Langhe region in particular, is one of the world’s great food and wine destinations.

Of all the wine types there is no more seductive grape than Pinot Noir, maker of the best red wine. With its brilliant ruby colour, complex aromas of earthy summer fruits and silky texture, Pinot Noir is the grape that many find irresistible. While Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay impress with power and dexterity, it is the subtlety and elegance of great Pinot Noir that can soothe the savage beast.

This is Australia’s highest profile wine flavours style, and arguably its best red wine. The grape is believed to have come to Australia first from its home, Hermitage in the Rhone area of France many years ago. Some believe, again arguably, that due to extensive re-planting in France due to Phylloxera, our older vineyards are more like Hermitage used to be, than that region is today. Some vineyards of Chateau Tahbilk for instance date back over 100 years unchanged (and small amounts of wine are still made from these old grapes.)

Merlot has taken a bit of a hammering of late, in part due to average wine making. All it took was a couple of body blows from Hollywood and suddenly Merlot’s fortunes, especially in the United States, are going down faster than The Titanic. But something is really a bit wrong here because Merlot should be the kind of grape that everyone loves.

The blankets and jumpers are coming out of the cupboards, a sure sign that Winter is on the way and it is time to crack the types of wine well suited to the cooler months. And so are the hearty red wines that suit the cooler seasons so well. So pack away your Rieslings, Rosés and Sauvignon Blancs, wines that look great chilled down to refresh on a warm Summer day, and get stuck into some big reds and weighty whites to suit the season. The blankets and jumpers are coming out of the cupboards, a sure sign that Winter is on the way. And so are the hearty red wines that suit the cooler seasons so well. So pack away your Rieslings, Rosés and Sauvignon Blancs, wines that look great chilled down to refresh on a warm Summer day, and get stuck into some big reds and weighty whites to suit the season.

IIf there is one grape that this country does best, it must be Shiraz, one of the top types of red wine. It is the grape that we have made our own with wines such as Penfolds Grange wowing drinkers around the world. Walk into most wine shops in the United States or Europe and you are sure to find a good selection of Australian Shiraz to choose from.

Johannes Pauw and his father Rik arrive at the Penfolds re-corking clinic at Sydney's Intercontinental Hotel filled with nerves and anticipation. Would they be walking out with the official nod to keep cellaring the dozen bottles of 1981 Grange Rik bought for his son? Or would they be lumped with the dreaded white dot indicating the bottles were on the turn. This would give them the green light to drink them but it isn't exactly how Johannes had anticipated consuming this prized gift from his dad.